Festive Adventures
by signelchan
Summary: Rantaro always throws a Christmas party, even when he's away looking for adventure; little does he know that the best adventure is one that he needs to be home to experience.


Rantaro Amami was good at a lot of things, like traveling the world and searching high and low for people he'd thought he'd lost forever. He was also good at throwing Christmas get-togethers, which he did every year no matter if he was home or not. It took a lot of skill to find usable cell service while on the side of an icy mountaintop, but somehow he always made it happen, and therefore could insert himself into the gathering at his home where his friends were celebrating the holiday season alongside his festive decorations and ever-present spirit, even if he wasn't there physically.

But being away for several Christmases in a row drained on him, not just because he missed the chance to rub elbows with all of the people he'd invited over, but rather because he missed the feeling of being wrapped in the holiday spirit, amidst the mistletoe and wreaths that were hung whether he was there or not. He could always see the people whenever he stopped by home before jetting off on his next adventure, but there was something about seeing his friends during the holidays that hit his soul a little differently—and that was when he decided he wasn't going to miss out on another Christmas season celebrating with the people he cared somewhat about, instead of in the places he desired to see.

That, of course, meant that for the first time in years, Rantaro was going to be throwing the largest, most happening Christmas get-together and he was going to be its star attraction, sitting right in the middle of his couch in his overly-decorated living room, with multiple trees harboring decorations and presents alike. He was going to sit there and take in the revelry around him and enjoy every second of it, whether any attention was being paid to him or not, which was exactly how he liked it. The thing about Rantaro's celebrations were that everything fancy and expensive about them was what got people to come, it didn't matter if he was present or not because he didn't matter to anyone who was attending; it was always and forever about the money being put into the whole thing, giving everyone the chance to feel upper-class for a day. If that bothered him he didn't ever let it show, as he consistently sat untouched in the middle of the room and found himself at peace with letting everyone else have their moment, because it meant he was making a memorable impact on everyone's lives once again.

The party was fun for everyone else, he supposed, but for him it was just another day, another way to spend time with people without actually doing anything at all, but he wouldn't change a thing about his appearance even if he could. That couch was the perfect vantage spot for watching all of the festivities, much better than being called in from wherever else in the world he was, and if Rantaro really wanted to, he was sure he could go find someone to talk to.

Or, for once, someone would come talk to him. It happened about halfway through the party's advertised time, someone very familiar to him sitting next to him on the couch and greeting him with a dazzling smile. "Oh, hey there, Kaede," he greeted, giving the woman a gentle wave, and she placed her hands together on his knee, leaning into him like she had something important to say. In a rush his personal history with her came flooding to memory, how they'd been incredibly close and flirted with dating a time or two, but had always been pulled away by their lives' directions that weren't compatible. She looked lovely as ever, and so happy to be there, that he couldn't resist saying more. "What's got you over here with me? Someone else sitting at the piano?"

"Yes, actually, but that's not why I'm here." She didn't seem bothered in the slightest by his pointed, albeit completely correct, question that he'd asked; in fact, she seemed to smile a bit bigger when she heard him mention her favorite thing in the world. "I figured that you might want some company, and since I can't play everyone a song right now, I decided I could be that company for you."

"That's a nice thought, but I'm fine being on my own. Thank you, though."

Not deterred even slightly by Rantaro's denial of what she was offering, Kaede let her eyes raise above his head for just a moment before she was back to smiling at him. "It's not an offer that you can turn down. I have a friend who's in need of some company and I…well, I can't exactly be the best company for him right now but _you_ can."

"You're not going to take no for an answer on this, are you?" Rantaro could hear someone sitting on his other side, trying to be stealthy about doing so, but he didn't want to be rude to take his attention off of Kaede to see who it was. She looked so happy to be doing what she was doing, and he knew that part of the reason he threw these parties every year was to make these old friends happy—and so he put on a smile of his own and decided to accept her offer anyway. "Well, thanks for being willing to spend some time with me. Now, who's this friend you've brought with you?"

As he turned to look, she did a fine job of narrating what he was going to see. "Oh, no one super important, just Shuichi. You know him, right?"

"Can't say that I'm too familiar with him," Rantaro replied, as his eyes looked over the dark-haired man sitting next to his other side, pushed up against the arm of the couch as to not cause any unintended physical contact. "He looks familiar, but he seems to be scared of me. Are you sure this is what he wants, Kaede?"

She gave a hesitant laugh, showing her nervousness at being asked the question, before her hands unexpectedly lifted off of Rantaro's leg and she jumped to her feet. "I-I can't say for sure, but I already said I can't spend time with him, and I just heard the song that was being played finish up so I've gotta go get my spot on the piano bench back. See you boys later!" She bounded her way through the party guests unaware of what was happening on the couch, the back of her short skirt flapping behind her, and Rantaro sighed, still looking at Shuichi with judging eyes.

He decided that perhaps being saddled with being the companion for this skittish-looking guy wouldn't be too bad, because it didn't seem like he was that interested in having a conversation. "You can stay here as long as you'd like," he told Shuichi, who swallowed something down and nodded. "I'm not going anywhere. Might be my holiday shindig but I'm not exactly big on socializing with everyone I invite."

The word _invite_ lingered in the air, as Rantaro realized that Shuichi would have had to be invited by someone, and right as he was going to ask the man gave a reply. "Kaede told me I needed to come, she said we must've known each other in school but I didn't remember you until I…saw you, before I sat down." Shuichi sounded simply terrified to be in the situation he was in, and Rantaro was willing to let him sit there and chill without saying anything else, but he just kept going. "Then I remembered who you were, you're the adventuring guy, aren't you? Too cool and aloof for his own good?"

"Heh, that's definitely me. What a shame that you're not really ringing any bells, but we'll make it work." Rantaro was used to having forgotten every person he'd talked to once upon a time, but at least now he was justified in it seeing as he must not have seen this guy since they'd been in school years before. "So what's your specialty, and what's your connection to Kaede? Nice woman, if it's a romantic one."

"I'm a detective, if you can even consider what I do detective work, and Kaede's just a friend so no worries there. I'm not…exactly her type, anyway." Shuichi moved out from against the side of the couch very slightly, un-squishing himself to the point that Rantaro could see his full outfit, complete with an ugly holiday sweater covered in footprints and magnifying glasses. "She's more into guys who can hold their own, and honestly? I can't blame her."

"A detective, hm? How interesting." Rantaro was not going to touch the rest of what Shuichi had said even if it killed him to leave it alone, but he wasn't particularly fond of making small talk with someone anyway. He was fully prepared to let the conversation fall deep into a lull when he heard laughter coming from behind the couch, and he and Shuichi both turned their heads to see a bunch of their former classmates standing there, Kaede at the helm, one of the taller guys holding out some mistletoe over the two sitting down. "What's the meaning of this?" he asked, as Shuichi shrank back into making himself as small as he could. "I thought I was supposed to be keeping him company, not kissing him."

"That was the plan, but…" Kaede trailed off as her voice was overtaken by uncontrollable giggles, her cheeks turning as pink as the shirt she was wearing. "They already got me while I was at the piano, so I thought maybe you'd appreciate getting hit with it too."

Shuichi was shaking his head, looking terrified at the prospect of having to kiss someone in front of a large group, and Rantaro wasn't too keen on it either, but he knew that this was a risk he ran while having a holiday party; it was honestly a surprise he hadn't encountered it sooner. "I don't appreciate it, but it's what's going to happen. Shuichi, I know we've just properly met but tradition calls."

There was very little build-up to the kiss itself, and it lasted for a fraction of a second, but the moment their lips touched Rantaro felt a sensation that he'd only found while exploring new places. He felt like he was exactly where he needed to be, right when he needed to be there, and all it took to find that feeling at home was to kiss a stranger. Still looking scared about things, Shuichi didn't seem to be quite as terrified as the cheering at their kiss wound down, and as the group around them disperse to go find some other unsuspecting duo he came out of his shell once more. "That wasn't so bad," he admitted, looking at Rantaro with as close to a smile as he could muster. "It wasn't great, but it could've been worse."

"Sure could have," Rantaro replied, not going to come clean about how he'd actually sort of liked the whole thing. He'd never thought of himself as needing a boyfriend or girlfriend to make himself happy, but it certainly would be easier on him to find his dose of adventure within a person rather than new places. "Maybe they'll come back, next time we could make it longer, don't you think?"

"I, uh, I guess we could."

Turning pale at how he'd actually said that, Rantaro quickly apologized with, "Too forward, sorry. Let's just enjoy the rest of this party in peace, and hope they don't come back after all."

For all of the celebration and the festive spirit, it took one little piece of mistletoe to change Rantaro's outlook on life, and he was going to make it a point to be home every year for Christmas from there on, just to chance getting another moment or two with Shuichi, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone, not even the man who felt like a new adventure.

* * *

**A/N: this was written for a gift exchange on tumblr!**


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